Improvement in barbed fences



R. FORD.

BARBED FENCE.

WITNESSES A/INVENTOR 2% 40 W AT TORN EYS N-PETERS. PHOTO-QTHOGRAPHER, WASBINGTON D C TATES ROBERTF ORD, OF MANTENO, IOWA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BARBED FENCES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 181,328, dated August 22, 1876; application filed December 31, 1875.

To-all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, ROBERT FORD, of Manteno, in the county of Shelby and State of Iowa, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Fences; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being bad to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference-marked thereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a representation of a plan view of my fence-barb, and Fig. 2 is a perspective'view of my fence-band with barbs attached.

This invention has relation to improvements in barbs for iron fences; and itconsists in combining, with a strap-iron longitudinal rail, a barb having a slot adapted to receive the said rail, whereby a barb is produced whichis incapable of rotation, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

In the annexed drawings, the letter A designates a strap-iron rail, which is designed to be arranged at a suitable distance apart from other similar rails, and to be secured to suitable pickets in any appropriate manner. These rails are, preferably, designed to be fixed to the posts or pickets with their edges in their vertical plane, so that they present their flat surfaces to the interior of the inclosure; and the barbs, which I designate by the letter B, are of the following construction: They are stricken out of sheet metal by a single stroke of a die, and are in the shape of a four-pointed star; .they are also provided at the same time with a slot, s, of the same length as the width of the rails A, so that they may be passed over the latter and be held against rotation thereon, because of the fact that the length and width'of the slot materially differ,'the former being equal to the breadth of the rail and the latter to its thickness.

In practice barb B will be four-pointed, this number being deemed sufficient, and the points a, which are in the continuation of the length of the slot 8, being somewhat longer than the barbs a, which are at right angles to the said slot, this difference being required bythe shape of the fiat rail. Barbs B will be arranged at intervals between the posts on rails A, and the shorter points will extend outward and inward, while the longer points will be in the vertical plane of the fence. It will be evident that the peculiar shape of the slot in the barb and of the rail will prevent the former from any casual displacement whatsoever other than in the length of the fence; and this may be obviated by a pin or other similar device. The flat surfaces of the rail, being faced in and out, will be seen by cattle both within and without'an inclosure, and they will by this means be deterred from running against the same and wounding themselves.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with the flat metallic rail A, arranged with its flat surfaces facing inward and outward, the fiat four-pointed metallic barb B, having an oblong rectangular slot,

8, adapted to receive the said rail, substantially as specified.

2. The four-pointed barb B, having oblong slot 8, the length between the points of the barbs in line with the slot being greater than that at right angles thereto, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT FORD.

Witnesses:

F. J. MONAUGHTER, JOHN DAVIS. 

